Telecom regulator Trai on Monday said that it is working on various technologies to detect pesky calls and messages along with a joint action plan with other regulators to curb financial frauds. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said that Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) or pesky communication is a major source of inconvenience to the public and impinges on the privacy of individuals. "Now complaints are reported against Unregistered Telemarketers (UTMs), where a surge has been seen in pushing various kinds of UCC SMSes. Additionally, UCC calls are also one of the concerns which need to be dealt with equally along with UCC SMSes," it said.
Telecom service providers (TSPs) have begun to monitor and prevent spam calls since May 1, with the help of an artificial intelligence and machine language-based system acting on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) latest directive on the matter, its officials told Business Standard. Touted as the first big technological measure against the growing menace of unsolicited commercial communications, all TSPs have confirmed to Trai that they have rolled out the AI/ML tool. The filter system works on the distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform used by TSPs, and is set to go for incremental updates, rules for which will soon be released, they added.
The National Informatics Centre uses AI to automate document analysis and detect fraud in government departments.
India may be 15th among the top 25 Artificial Intelligence nations, but it has the 'the greatest upward potential' according to research by Tufts University's business school, the Fletcher School. At the top is the US, followed by China, fighting for global leadership in AI followed by the UK, Japan, and Germany. In the 15th spot, India is ahead of Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia and Thailand.
This puts an end to Facebook's Free Basics and Airtel's zero rating plans in India.
The Indian telecom market presented a picture of sharp contrast in May with Bharti Airtel losing a staggering 46.13 lakh wireless subscribers even as rival Reliance Jio added 35.54 lakh mobile users, according to data from telecom regulator Trai. Overall, the Indian mobile market shed 62.7 lakh users in May.
Led by Bharti Airtel, telecom operators added 4.73 million new mobile phone users in the month of June 2012, taking the telephone subscriber base in the country to 965.52 million, telecom regulator Trai on Friday said.
The interconnection charge has been reduced.
Leading broadcasters Zee-Turner and Set Discovery have challenged in TDSAT sectoral regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's guidelines on pricing of cable TV charges in non-conditional access system areas. Trai regulation directs them to provide their channels on a 'la carte' basis.
Reliance Jio maintained the top position in the 4G speed chart with a 20.9 megabit per second (Mbps) average download rate in September, while Vodafone Idea topped in the upload segment with 7.2 Mbps data speed, as per telecom regulator Trai. Reliance Jio's 4G network speed increased by about 15 per cent in September while its competitors Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (VIL) speed jumped by about 85 per cent and 60 per cent month-on-month to 11.9 Mbps and 14.4 Mbps, respectively, according to data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
The telecom ministry will set up an intelligence unit and a consumer protection system as part of continuing efforts to tackle the menace of pesky calls as well as to take strict action against financial frauds perpetrated using telecom resources.
The content providers -- TV channels, FM Radio stations, e-commerce companies and credit card majors -- have blamed the service providers and mobile value-added services (VAS) operators for the problem.
Amid reports of security concerns over Egypt's Orascom acquiring indirect stake in Hutch-Essar, Pakistan telecom regulator Shahzada Alam Malik wondered on Friday how a mobile operator working in his country could be a threat to India.
Telecom operators have started the process of scrubbing telemarketing messages but will allow their transmission to mobile subscribers till regulator Trai takes a final call, according to industry body COAI. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on March 12 gave three days' time to entities like banks, e-commerce firms and others for complying with telemarketing rules, failing which they were to be barred from sending out commercial communication to customers. The business organisations, however, have sought more time from the telecom regulator to implement the process. In the meantime, Trai has allowed telecom operators to start the process of scrubbing and prepare a database of messages that do not comply with norms.
Seeks clarification on a few issues such as enhancement of entry fee and performance bank guarantee from telecom regulator
The attack comes in the backdrop of the regulatory authority uploading about one million comments on net neutrality
Prepaid mobile customers in India has never had it so good. Vodafone, Idea, MTS & Aircel has confirmed that from Friday there will be only three types of vouchers for mobile recharge. Others too will have to follow soon.
In the show-cause notice, Trai said it is of the view that the claim of VIL for providing priority 4G network with faster data speeds is not in compliance with the extant regulatory framework.
In about two years of commercial roll out of its fixed-line broadband services, Reliance Jio has toppled 20-year-old state-run telecom company BSNL as top service provider in the segment. According to a monthly telecom subscribers report released by the telecom regulator Trai on Tuesday, Jio now leads the fixed-line broadband segment with 4.34 million customers. The segment had been dominated by the state-run telecom since its inception about 20 years ago.
Life has come full circle for Nobel laureate Professor Mohammad Yunus, who faced persecution during Sheikh Hasina's regime for embezzlement, is now all set to head of the interim government in Bangladesh after she resigned and fled the country.
A crown of thorns awaits the next telecom minister at Sanchar Bhawan as the new incumbent will have to address a host of tricky issues like industry infighting, tariffs and improving financial health of the Rs 2.3 lakh crore industry.
The interim broadcast regulator being considered by the government for expedient resolution of CAS imbroglio may also enforce programming code and regulate content on television, official sources said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Consumers can expect a 5G launch in the country soon. Telecom companies (telcos) say if auctions take place on time - the target is July - they would be able to offer some services in a few cities by the end of this year and a full roll-out from 2023. But the question is: will 5G turn the tables for telcos financially? Will average revenue per user (ARPU) improve? Will mobile consumers upgrade to 5G quickly and pay more? Will the expanded functions that 5G enables drum up sufficient revenues? In simple terms, will telcos make more money?
Manoj Sinha will retain his current role in the railways.
Dependence on advertising remains absolute, with about 90 per cent of revenues coming from it.
Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Monday said the government was thinking of setting up a Broadcasting Regulatory Authority to enforce guidelines and regulations on television and radio contents.\n\n\n\n
But says more than 5 MHz can be auctioned in 9 circles
When on October 24, the Supreme Court, on a petition moved by the government, ordered payment of past dues according to its new definition of AGR, the country's second-biggest carrier Vodafone-Idea Ltd warned of shut down if no relief is given. The total dues for the industry ran into a whopping Rs 1.47 lakh crore. For an industry that has come from 7-8 operators to just three private players and state-owned fourth operator, the warning by Vodafone-Idea sounded like a death knell.
TRAI said the two companies failed to fulfill roll-out obligations and their merger was in violation of rules.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Pradip Baijal on Monday said the regulator would work towards reducing the differences among telecom operators while ensuring competitive tariffs along with service quality.
However, Rajya Sabha being a continuing chamber is not subject to dissolution, and bills introduced and pending in this House remain on the live register, unless withdrawn by the government.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India last week recommended that the government should auction 5 MHz of airwaves in the 1800 MHz band and companies will have to pay a minimum Rs 3,622.18 crore (Rs 36.22 billion) for every unit of spectrum.
Telecom subscribers who were waiting to the results of the telecom regulator's crackdown on telemarketing companies from making unsolicited calls/SMSes will have to wait longer.
As the digitisation drive enters its second phase, the I&B ministry has asked telecom regulator to come up with measures to control monopolies in the cable TV.
In a setback to state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, telecom dispute settlement tribunal TDSAT on Monday refused to grant a stay, through an nterim order, on implementation of the new Access Deficit Charge regime from February 1.
'I feel more like a chess player, thinking for long hours how to make the next move," Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan tells Surajeet Das Gupta.
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